Officials Must Learn From Breakdown Of Strangford Ferry Says Shannon
Strangford MP Jim Shannon speaking after the Strangford ferry being out of action for some time last week has expressed his concern that both ferries were out of commission at the same time leaving people in Upper Ards almost stranded
Mr Shannon said: “I was contacted by numerous constituents in relation to the Ferry not operating and the disruption this has caused.
“A couple of constituents had stated that they attempted to contact the Department of Infrastructure (DfI) by phone, and there was no answer and no details of what was happening.
“There were many people who had to attend work settings, attend appointments and run errands, and this caused a major inconvenience to them.
“Many tourists also from outside the Borough would possibly not have been aware of this and perhaps driven all the way to Portaferry to be told the service is unavailable.
“Ards and North Down Council invests heavily into tourism to fund the economy throughout and with the ferry not being in operation, they are not able to play their part.
“The DfI have since came out to say that there was an electrical fault on one ferry and a mechanical fault on the other, leaving both out of action at the same time.
“The idea is that should one become unavailable, the other is there to replace it, but there must be better co-ordination to ensure our constituents have a service they can reply on.
“I urge the DfI to learn from these mistakes and ensure that there is always a service available for those who use it, no matter how often.”
